e: 

.GxAA- 






TENNESSEANS TU Tlli:iU CUUNTKY'S l)El<^ENSE. 



THE DELIVERANCE OF CUBA, OUR DUTY 
AND OUR GLORY. 



SPEi:CIIES 



OF 



HON. HENRY 1I:'GIBS0N. 





OF 


TENNESSEE 


2,5". ''^ 






5-'i5-2^ 




IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESI<:NTATIVI5S, 



MARCH 8 AND APRIL 27, 1898. 



W ASH IJSTGr'rO N". 
1898. 



ET2.I 






iiiO 



t 



^^ Teniiesseaiis to tlieir Country's Defense. 



SPEECH 

OF 

^'^^ HON. HENEY K. GIBSON, 

OF TENNESSEE, 

In the House of EErsESENTATivES, 

Tuesday, March S, ISDS. 

The House having: under consideration the bill (H. R. 8927) appropriating 
$50,000,0UU for the national defense- 
Mr. GIBSON said: 

Mr. Speaker: I represent a people whose ancestors were the 
men who on the banks of the Alamance fought the first battle 
ever fought on the continent of America against British oppres- 
sion; a people whose soldiers at the great battle of Point Pleasant 
defeated the confederated Indian nations under Logan, Cornstalk, 
and Eed Eagle, and saved the frontier settlements from the torch, 
the tomahawk, and the scalping knife of the merciless red man; 
a people whose grandfathers at King's Mountain turned the tide 
of Revolutionary warfare in favorof American Independence; a 
people whose fathers fought with Jackson and Coffee behind the 
cotton bales at New Orleans, who gave Crockett and Houston to 
the cause of Texas, and who marched with Scott from Vera Cruz 
to Mexico; a people who in the late war, whether fighting under 
Kirby Smith, Forrest, Cheatham, or Bate, on the one side, or un- 
der Jim Brownlow, Joe Cooper, Farragut, Spears, or Stokes, on 
the other, displayed a valor and a devotion worthy of the heroism 
of their ancestors. [Applause.] And these people are to-day, as 
were their forefathers in their day, ready and willing to rally to 
their country's defense and to risk their lives in vindication of their 
country's cause, and, if duty require, to die in support of their 
country's rights. 

Representing such a pec/*pl6, inspired by the spirits of such 
heroic ancestors, and strgn^tJiened by the consciousness of the 
justness of our cause, I shall take a patriotic pride in casting my 
vote for this bill. And should the President call for soldiers in 
this great emergency, the mountains of East Tennessee will, within 
forty-eight hours, furnish enough volunteers to drive every Span- 
ish soldier off the American continent and raise in Cuba the flag 
of Cuban independence. [Applause.] 

And, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be able to say that the same 
patriotism that stirs the hearts of my people, with like thrill stirs 
the hearts of all Americans, whether living north or south of the 
Ohio, whether living east or west of the Mississippi, whether Re- 
publicans or Democrats, and whether they fought under Grant 
or fought»under Lee. Our voices are all in chorus to-day. We 
all keep step to the tune of our country. Our bodies are seventy 
millions, but our hearts are one. Our treasure and our wealth 
2 o309 



are as dirt when coinpared with tlie glory, the lioiior. ntnl t!i9 
welfare of our country. 

Let all the nations of the earth know, once for all. tliat, while 
seekin.c: trouble with none, while iireferrin^ the pursuits of jjeuce, 
nevertheless we are jealous of our country's just right's, we are 
mindful of our national duties, and we stand ever rea'dy to viii- 
dicate our honor and discharge every responsibility of i)atrioti.sur, 
and if doing this causes war, then let war come. [Applause.] 
And woe unto that nation that causes the war ! 



liy r.avoiis and buzzards .issailed on liis crnK, 
Tho o.it;Io iu wrath wreaks u ven},'c:uico nio.st dire ; 

Wlion oiu- lionor is toufhcd, ;uid insulted our llai;. 
With vonuoanoo we'll liattlo, with stfol and with firo, 
And lourful the havoc well make in our in.-. 



[Applause. 



The Delivorance of Cuba, Our Duty and Our (aorj. 



SPEECH 

OP 

HON. HENEY H. GIBSON, 

OP TENNESSEE, 

In the House of Eepeesentatives, 

Wednesday, April 27, ISDS. 

The House beinp in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, and having under consideration the bill (H. R. lOlOt)) to provide ways 
and means to meet war cxx^enditures— 

Mr. GIBSON said: 

Mr. Chairman: I rise to discuss not only the question of 
revenue to carry on the war with Spain, but also the causes that 
brought on this war. 

Almost touching the shores of the United States is the Island of 
Cuba, the most beautiful island and the most fertile iu all this West- 
ern Hemisphere, containing when the present insurrection began 
about 1,900.000 people and about 4:J,000 square miles, just about 
the population and area of my State of Tennessee. 

CUBA'S FORMER STnUGGI-ES FOU LIBERTY. 

Mr. Chairman, from my early boyhood I have been interested in 
the Island of Cuba and in the struggles of its peoi'Je to obtain 
their freedom. 1 remember the expeditions of that heroic patriot, 
Narciso Lopez, and how he finally was defeated and he himself 
executed, dying a martyr to the cause of Cuban liberty, his last 
words being a prayer that some day his beloved island might be 
free. I remember, also, the gallant Crittenden, of Kentucky, a 
comrade of Lopez; how he was capttired and brutally shot, and 
how, when ordered to kneel with his back to his execi'itioncrs. ho 
defiantly and grandly replied that an American never turned his 
back to his enemies and never kneeled except to his God. 

I recall the many patriotic incidents of Cuba's ten years' strug- 
gle for liberty, from 1808 to 1878, battling against all tho power 
of despotic S]iain. The soil of Cuba has been reddened by tho 
sacred blood of thousands of her heroic sons Avho have died in her 
holy cause, while thousands of other patriot .sor.s have per:.shed 



in dungeons because they would not bend their knees to the 
tyrants of Spain. But these martyrs did not die in vain. 

They never fail who die 
In a great cause. The block may soak their grore; 
Their heads may sodden in the sun; tlieir limbs 
Bo strung to city gates and castle walls; 
But still tlieir spirit walks abroad. Though years 
Elapse, and others share as darli a doom. 
They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts 
Which overpower all others and conduct 
The world at last to freedom. 

BEGI^^XING OF THE PRESENT INSURRECTIOX. 

When, three years ago, Mr. Chairman, the patriots of Cuba 
again raised the flag of freedom and drew their machetes in its 
defense, the eyes of the whole American people turned toward 
that beautiful island and our prayers went up in their behalf. 
The Cubans had long been looking to this country for material 
assistance, but, despairing of any helpers, resolved to rely on their 
own right arms. And this was well, for no people deserve free- 
dom who will not make great sacrifices to obtain it. 

Who would be free, themselves miist strike the blow. 

And the Cubans began to strike, and to strike like heroes and 
like patriots. Victory after victory was won by them and repub- 
lican government established. Believing them entitled to recog- 
nition as belligerents, and finding my constituents of the same 
belief, on January 20, 1896, more than two years ago, I introduced 
the following resolutions in this House: 

Resolution favoring the recognition of the belligerent rights of the Cuban 
revolutionists. 

Whereas the Cuban revolutionists have now for many months demon- 
strated their ability to withstand the military power of Spain, and have for 
months been in possession of two- thirds of their island; and 

Whereas the Spanish Government, having failed to repress the revolution 
by civilized warfare, is reliably reported to have determined to inaugurate a 
campaign of blood and barbarity, the results of which will almost certainly 
be cold-blooded massacres and brutal butcheries; and 

Whereas the first atrocity of a sanguinary character on the part of the 
Spanish authorities, in their campaign of carnage, will arouse an outburst of 
indignant wrath on the part of the people of the United States so unanimous 
and tremendous as to render the enforcement of our neutrality laws diffi- 
cult, if not impossible; and 

V/hereas we, the free and freedom-loving citizens of America, can not afford 
to stand voiceless and motionless while our fellow-citizens of America are 
being butchered like beasts by foreign armies, almost before our very eyes, 
for no crime except that, like us, they love liberty and want their country 
to be free: Therefore, in the interest of liberty and in the name of hu- 
manity and American brotherhood. 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the United States of America, 
That it is the sense of this House that the time has arrived for the recognition 
of the belligerent rights of the Cuban revolutionists, to tho end that the 
further effusion of human blood may be prevented and the struggling patriots 
of Cuba be placed on a footing of equality with their Spanish enemies. 

Besolved further. That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to 
report at an early day an appropriate resolution in favor of the immediate 
recognition of tiio belligerent rights of the Cuban revolutionists by the 
Government of the United States. 

Other resolutions of a similar character were introduced into 
both Houses of Congress, and we finally resolved, on April 6, 1896, 
more than two years ago, both Houses concurring, as follows: 

CONGRESS RECOGNIZES CUBAN BELLIGERENTS. 

Resolved brj the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), Tliat, in 
the opinion of Congress, a condition of public war exists between tho Gov- 
ernment of Spain and the government proclaimed and for some time main- 
tained by force of arms by the people of Cuba, and that tho United States of 
America should maintain a strict neuti-ality between the contending powers, 
according to each all the rights of belligerents in the ports and territory of 
the United States. 
GJ09 



Resolved further. That the friendly offices of the United States should ho 
offered by the President to the Spanish Qovernmont for the recognition of 
the independence of Cuba. 

Mr. Cleveland was then President, and he declined to take any 
steps towards recognizing tho belligerency of the Cuban insur- 
gents. But matters drifted from bad to worse until the Spanish 
Captain-General began to seize American citizens and thrust 
them into damp, dark dungeons. My people being indignant at 
such high-handed atrocities, on the l.'3d of February, 18'J7, I in- 
troduced the folloAving resolutions into this House: 

.Toint resolution to enforce tho rights of American citizens in Cuba. 

Whereas many American citizens have been illegally and without .sufB- 
cieut cause arrested and imprisoned in the Island of Cuba by the Spanish 
authorities; and 

Whereas somo of those Americans thus wrongfully arrested and impris- 
oned have been thrust into dark and foul dungeons, and .some of them have 
been denied tho necessaries of life, and some have been maltreated without 
trial, and some have been inhumanly done to death; and 

Whereas in a majority of the cases these Americans thus unlawfully ar- 
rested and barbarously dealt with have been denied the trial guaranteed 
them by the treaties between the United States and Spain, and have been 
treated in a manner unworthy of a civilized nation or a people professing to 
be Christians; and 

Whereas it is well known that many of these Americans have been mal- 
treated and some of them butchered, not because of any fault of their^, but 
to enable Spanish officials to vent their hatred of tho United States and to 
exh^iit their animosity toward Americans in general; and 

Whereas these wicked, illegal, and barbarous deeds of the Spanish officials 
in Cuba, sustained as they have been by the lawful authorities of Spain, are 
.in intentional insult and injury to tho whole people and Government of the 
United States; and 

Whereas the further submission of the Government of the United States 
to these atrocities and outrages upon our citizens in Cuba will degrade our 
Government in the estimation of tho lovers of liberty and justice the world 
over, and be at the same time a grievous wrong and humiliation to every cit- 
izen of the United States, an injury to one being an injury to all: Therefore, 
to the end that justice be done, tho rights of American citizenship a.sserted 
and vindicated, the honor of our country sustained, and the laws of human- 
ity and civilization enforced. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That the President of the United States be, 
and he is hereby, authorized and directed to demand ot the Spanish author- 
ities in Cuba the immediate restoration to liberty of every American citizen, 
native born or naturalized, now imprisoned by them in the Island of Cuba. 

Sec. 3. That in support of that demand the President of the United States 
bo, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to accompany it by the presence 
of a sufficient number of United States ships of war to make the demand 
good; and if said demand is not granted within twenty-four hours that the 
city of Havana, and if need be other ports of Cuba, be bombarded until said 
demand is fully complied with and all of said American citizens delivered to 
the commander of our war ships. 

A similar resolution was introduced into the Senate, but be- 
fore action on either, Captain-Greneral Weyler ordered some of the 
Americans to be released and the others better treated, and there 
the matter was allowed to rest for a season. 

SPAIN'S DECIilNE AND DESPOTISM. 

Mr. Chairman, there was a day when Spain was a mighty na- 
tion and owned nearly the whole of South America and more than 
half of North America. She owned all of South America except 
Brazil and Guiana, and owned all of North America except 
Canada and that part of the United States north of Florida and 
east of the Mississippi. 

It is hard at this day to realize that Florida, Louisiana, and all 
of our States and Territories west of the Mississippi were Spanish 
territory less than one hundred years ago. Indeed, Spain con- 
trolled the navigation of the Mississippi, and required every boat 
that sailed down it to pay her tribute money. It was this great 
fact that caused the discontent in tho Mississippi Valley, of which 
3309 



6 

Aaron Burr took advantage; and so great was the oppression of 
Spain that the people of my own State of Tennessee, in their con- 
stitution, demanded the free navigation of the Mississippi, and 
placed on her seal the device of a boat sailing on a river, as you 
will see by looking at it there above your head [pointing to 'the 
coat of arms of the State of Tennessee In the center of the ceiling 
of the Hall of the House] , meaning by that sign to conquer our 
way to the sea, which we would have done had not Spain ceded 
the territory to France and France sold it to the United States. 

Yes, Spain once owned nearly the whole Western Hemisphere, 
Slie was rich, she was powerful, she was warlike; but now she 
has lost nearly all of her possessions and has become poor and 
weak. Only Cuba and Porto Rico are left to her on this side of 
the Atlantic, and for fifty years she has enslaved the people of 
these islands and robbed them of their hard earnings, robbed 
them of the mohey made from the sweat of their faces and the 
blood of their backs. Yes, Spain, in her pride and poverty, is 
treating Cuba like a poor but proud and once wealthy family 
treated their only slave before the war — made him do the work of 
three and gave him but little to wear and less to eat. [Laughter.] 
Spain wants Cuba to pay enough taxes to support the Queen and 
the boy King so they may dress in purple and fine linen and fare 
sumptuously every day. And to do this she levies upon the 
Cubans taxes so enormous as to confiscate nearly all the fruits of 
their labor and to make them but little more than slaves. 

OBJECTIONS TO CUBAN INDEPENDENCE. 

Some say, Mr. Chairman, that the Republic of Cuba is only a 
" paper government; " that it has no real existence. If the insur- 
gents have only a "paper government," how does it happen that 
they have for three long and bloody years so successfully resisted 
the whole power of Spain to conquer them? Spain has sent against 
this ' ' paper government " no less than three captains-general and 
300,000 men, besides scores of ships of war, and yet this " paper 
government " has grown and strengthened all the time, and the 
power of Spain to suppress has grown weaker and weaker all the 
time. 

Others say the insurgents are nothing but a lot of " mountain- 
eers." Thank God, Mr. Speaker, for "mountaineers"! Read the 
history of freedom the wide world over, and you will find that 
the "mountaineers" have always been the first to raise the flag of 
freedom and the last to lower it. When liberty was dead or 
asleep everywhere else on the continent of Europe it was alive 
and awake in the Alpine Mountains. All that has been left of 
true religion and liberty on the continent of Africa for a thousand 
years is found in the mountains of Abyssinia. Take out of Asia 
the men of her mountains and what will be left would soon be- 
come the servants of servants and the mockery of men. 

The men of the mountains have been that salt which has given 
the savor of liberty to the human race in all the ages of the past, 
and if you strike out of the grand volume of freedom the glorious 
deeds and patriotic sacrifices of the men of the mountains it 
would be like striking the sun, moon, and stars from the heavens 
above us. 

How glorious, Mr. Chairman, the record of the mountain men 
in our own history! It was the men of the Green Mountains who 
fought the battle of Bennington and so crippled Burgoyne that 
he was forced to surrender at Saratoga. It was the' mountain 
men of Tennessee and the Carolinas w-ho defeated Ferguson at 

8309 



Kings Mounfain and drove Connvallis to Yorktown, where lie 
was captured, a capture that ended the war of the Revolution. 

And in our second war with Ens^land, when the British had 
captured Hull in the North, had seized this city of Washington 
and burned this Capitol here in the Enst, it was the mountaineers 
of the South who, under Jackson at New Orleans, hurled back tha 
choicest troops in the British army, and made the valor and pa- 
triotism of the American soldier at once the pride and glory of 
our country and the wonder of the world. 

PATRIOTISM OF THE MOUNTAINEERS OF TilE SOUTH. 

And in the late war between the States, when the men from tha 
cities and plains of the South lifted up a new banner and sung a 
new song and fought for a new country, the mountaineers of the 
South, wherever found, whether in West Virginia or eastern Ken- 
tucky, whether in western North Carolina or in East Tennessee, 
were found ever true to the old flag of their fathers, ever singing 
the old songs of their mothers, and ever fighting for that country 
which Washington had done so much to found, which Jackson 
had done so much to iireserve, and which Polk had done so much 
to enlarge. 

And I feel bold to say here to-day that had it not been for the 
mountain men of the South; had it not been for their unswerving 
devotion to the Union; had it not been for their skill and enter- 
prise as scouts and spies; had it not been for the valor and intre- 
pidity of the more than 100,000 of them who joined the Union 
armies; had they not, by their stores and supplies and their reen- 
f orcements, saved Burnside at Knoxville; had they not opened and 
kept open that back door to the heart of the Southern Confed- 
eracy through which Sherman marched from Chattanooga to At- 
lanta and from Atlanta to the sea, no man can tell when or where 
or how the war of the rebellion would have ended. 

So, Mr. Chairman, when I heard that the Cuban insurgents 
were mountain men, then I knew that they would never cease 
fighting until they had achieved the independence of their coun- 
try. It is true, deceived by the false promises of Spain, some of 
them have at times suspended their struggle, but the great mass 
of the Cuban people have never allowed the sacred flame of liberty 
to die out in their hearts; and at last the day of their deliverance 
is at hand, for — 

Freedom's battle, once begun, 
Beqneath'd by bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft, is ever won. 

In the political campaign two years ago all of our great political 
parties declared that the people of Cuba should be free, I quota 
from the platforms: 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 

We extend our sympathy to the people of Cuba in their heroic struggle for 
liberty and independence. 

POPULIST PLATFORM. 

We tender to the patriotic people of Cuba our deepest sympathy in their 
heroic struggle for political freedom and independence, and wo believe tho 
time has come when the United States, tho great Republic of tho world, 
should recognize that Cuba is and of right ought to be a free and independent 

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 

From the hour of achieving their own independence the people of the 
United States have regarded with sympathy tlie struggles of ether American 
people to free themselves from European domination. We watcli with deep 
and abiding interest tho heroic battle of the Cuban patriots against cruelty 
and oppression, and our best hopes go out for the full success of their dote*- 
mined contest for liberty. 
3309 



8 

The Government of Spain having lost control of Cuba and being unable to 
protect the property or lives of resident American citizens or to comply 
with its treaty obligations, we believe that the Government of the United 
States should actively use its influence and good olfices to restore peace and 
give independence to the island. 

It will thus be seen, Mr. Chairman, that the people of the 
United States, speaking solemnly and deliberately through the 
national conventions of their great parties, have nnanimously 
resolved and decreed that the people of the Island of Cuba should 
be free and independent, and if we fail to execute this mandate 
of the American people then will we fail in our duty, and to that 
extent we cease to be representatives of the people and become 
obstructionists and betrayers of the trust reposed in us by our 
constituents. 

So fierce was the struggle, such was the slaughter of the com- 
batants, such the sufferings of the noncombatants, and such the 
damage to the commerce of the island, that President Cleveland 
two 3'earsago, as an act of humanity, made an effort to bring about 
a peace through the mediation of this Government on the basis of 
self-government by the Cubans under the Spanish flag. But the 
Government of Spain refused to hearken to our friendly interces- 
sion, and so the Vv'ar continued. 

SPAIX'S POLICY OF COXCENTRATION AND STARVATION. 

Captain-General Wejder devised what is called the policy of 
"concentration," in pursuance of which he required all the peo- 
ple living outside of the cities to move into the cities and burned 
all their houses and destroyed or appropriated their cattle and 
horses. Perhaps, Mr. Chairman. I can not do better than to quote 
right here what President McKinleysaid in his message tons two 
weeks ago: 

The eiTorts of Spain were increased both by the dispatch of fresh levies 
to Cuba and by the addition to the horrors of the strife of a now and inhuman 
phase happily unprecedented in the modern history of civilized Christian 
peoples. The policy of devastation and concentration inaugurated by the 
Captain-General's bando of October 21, 1896, in the Province of Pinar del Kio 
was thence extended to embrace all of the island to which the power of the 
Spanish arms was able to reach by occupation or by military operations. 
The peasantry, including all dwelling in the open agricultural interior, were 
driven into the garrison towns or isolated places held by the troops. 

The raising and movement of provisions of all kinds were interdicted. 
The fields were laid waste, dwellings unroofed and fired, mills destroyed, 
and, in short, everything that could desolate the land and render it unfit for 
human habitation or support was commanded by one or the other of the 
contending parties and executed by all the powers at their disposal. 

******* 

The agricultural population to the estimated number of 300,000 or more 
was herded within the towns and their immediate vicinage, deprived of the 
means of support, rendered destitute of shelter, left poorly clad, and exposed 
to the most unsanitary conditions. As the scarcity of food increased with 
the devastation of the depopulated areas of production, destitittion and want 
became misery and starvation. Month by mouth the death rate increased 
in an alarming ratio. By March, 1897, according to conservative estimates 
from official Spanish sources, the mortality among the reconcentrados, from 
starvation and the diseases thereto incident, exceeded 50 per cent of their 
total number. 

No practical relief was accorded to the destitute. The overburdened 
towns, already .suffering from the general dearth, could give no aid. So-called 
"zones of cultivation" established within the immediate areas of effective 
military control about the cities and fortified camps proved illusory as a 
remedy for the suffering. The unfortunates, being for the most part women 
and children, with aged and helpless men, enfeebled by disease and hunger, 
could not have tUled the soil without tools, seed, or shelter, for their own 
support or for the supply of the cities. Reconcentration, adopted avowedly 
as a war measure in order to cut off the resources of the insurgents, worked 
its predestined result. As I said in my message of last December, it was not 
civilized warfare; it was extermination. The only peace it could beget was 
that of the wilderness and the grave. 
3303 



9 

And keep in mind, Mr. Chairman, tliat this is not the rhetorical 
lan.Ejuage of a newspaper editorial or a campaign speech, but the 
moderate and measured words of a solemn state paper based on 
incontrovertible facts. 

THE HORRORS OF SPAIN'S PRISON PEN'S. 

Picture the condition of the Cubans to-day. All the farmers 
and villagers and country people forced to move into the cities, 
where they have been fenced in by a ditch called a "trocha," and 
on the outside of this ditch or. "trocha" is a strong and high 
fence made of barbed wire, built to Iceep the country people inside 
and to keep the insurgents out, with little forts at every corner 
and all along the line, filled with soldiers who shoot every man, 
woman, or child who gets out or attempts to cross the line. 

In these prison pens, Mr. Chairman, are concentrated all of the 
people of Cuba who are not with the insurgents. We iill have 
read of Andersonville and Salisbury, but these Spanish prison 
pens are far worse than any our soldiers suffered in during the 
war of the rebellion, for in the Cuban prison pens are not only 
tens of thousands of men, but tens of thousands of women and 
children, many half clothed, many stai'k naked, many dying in 
the open air and on the open ground every hour, many lying 
around dead who have been left unburied for days and days, tens 
of thousands sick without nurses or medicine, hundreds of thou- 
sands starving slowly but surely to death, the cries of children 
for bread, the moans of mothers whose breasts yield no nourish- 
ment for their famishing babes, the curses of despairing men with 
no means to save their wives and children from starvation and 
diseases — such are the sights and sounds on the Island of Cuba 
to-day, and such have been the sights and sounds for over a year, 
until more than 200,000 people have died from starvation or from 
diseases incident to their living cooped up in these prison pens, 
with their exposure to the weather, to the horrible fumes fi'om the 
filth and dead bodies, without physicians and without medicines. 
If ever any government has inaugurated a hell on earth, it is in 
Cuba to-day. 

TUE DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE. 

Affairs on the Island of Cuba were in this awful condition of 
anarchy, starvation, disease, and death, our Government doing 
nothing and uncertain what, under the law of nations, it might 
do, when, on the 15th of February last, the destruction of our 
magnificent war ship Maine in the harbor of Havana startled our 
people. Sometimes, Mr. Chairman, it takes a great calamity to 
awaken a man to his sins, and sometimes it takes a great calamity 
to awaken a nation to its duties. 

Mr. Chairman, how was the 3Iaine destroyed? The unanimous 
report of the court of inquiry was that she was blown up by an 
explosion of a mine placed under her bottom. Mr. Chairman, 
everybody knows that a mine large enough and strong enough to 
blow an immense and powerful ironclad ship into small pieces 
was no cheap affair, liable to be in the hands or possession of a 
private citizen. We know that the Spanish authorities in Havana 
did not allow private citizens to have such explosives in their 
possession. 

We Imow that the Spanish officials did have mines and torpe- 
does, and we have the strongest evidence that they laid mines in 
the harbor, to be exploded by electricity from the shore. We 
know the Maine was anchored at a particular buoy, designated by 
a Spanish officer, a spot where it was very unusual for a vessel to 
3309 



10 

be moored. Wo know that Spanisli officials hated the Maine and 
wanted her destroyed, and that their only means of destruction 
were the mines and torpedoes in the harbor; and we know she was 
destroyed by them, and destroyed, too, at a time when these very 
same Spanish officials were specially enraged at the United States 
because of the expulsion of De Lome, the Spanish minister, for his 
insulting letter about President McKinley and Cuban affairs. 

In the light of these facts, who can doubt, Mr. Chairman, that 
the Maine was blown up by Spanish officials, especially when we 
consider that the Spaniards are reputed to be the most treach- 
erous, the most revengeful, and the most perfidious of all people 
called civilized? 

Never in the history of mankind was there committed a crime 
more cold-blooded in its conception, more diabolical in its pre- 
meditation, or more malignant and perfidious in its execution 
than the destruction of the Maine and the massacre of her crew. 

To think, Mr. Chairman, that this magnificent ship of war, this 
grand marvel of naval architecture, this wonderfully harmonious 
combination of strength and symmetry, of beauty and power; 
this mighty and glorious American ship, fair as a visitant from 
heaven in the day of peace, but terrible as a demon from hell in 
the hour of battle; this ship, sleeping at night in what was sup- 
posed to be the absolute security of a friendly harbor, her crew of 
American heroes dreaming in their beds 6t love, or home, or 
glory; this ship and these men, without warning, in the twinkling 
of an eye, in the darkness and stillness of the night, blown to 
pieces, hurled into the vortex of the sea, and utterly destroyed, as 
though she was some 

Perfidious bark, 

Built in th' eclipse, aud rigg'd with curses dark'. 

On February 28, a few days after the Maine had been blown up, 
believing that our country was on the eve of war, and believing 
it would be a war upon the sea and not on the land, and knowing 
that our Navy ought to be strengthened, I introduced the follow- 
ing: 

Bill to provide for the national defense and for the assertion aud mainta 
nance of the national honor. 
Be it enacted Jyij the Senate and House of Eeprcsentatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, Thatthesumof $30,000,000, orso much 
thereof as may bo necessary, be, and is hereby, appropriated, out of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the construction, 
purchase, repair, and equipment of such, and so many, vessels of war, and 
lor the construction, purchase, and repair of such, and so much, material 
and stores of naval warfare, and for the enlistment, transportation, equip- 
ment, aud subsistence of such, and so many, sailors, officers, marines, and 
other men, as in the judgment of the Secretary of the Navy the public wel- 
fare may require. 

On March 8, Congress passed a bill appropriating $50,000,000 
for the national defense. We all realized, Mr. Chairman, that 
war was near, and we considered it our duty to make preparation 
for it. 

THE PRESIDENT CALLS ON CONGRESS TO ACT. 

When the court of inquiry reported that the il/a(»(? had been 
blown up by a submarine mine, the indignation of the American 
I)eoi)le burst forth like a suppressed volcano, and avow was regis- 
tered in their hearts that the flag of Spain should cease to float 
over the Island of Cuba. 

Sobered by the mighty responsibilities resting upon him, and 
anxious to make as much preparation for war aa possible, the 



o 



11 

President moved calmly along, neither swayed bv the whirlwind 
of public passion nor by the clamors of a partisan i)ress, and on 
the nth instant sent us a message wherein, after recounting the 
history of the Cuban rebellions and the efforts of Spain to sup- 
press them by war and starvation, and the attempts of our Gov- 
ernment to mediate, and after referring to the destruction of the 
Maine, despairing of any peaceful solution of the great and per- 
plexing problem, he said: 

The long trial has proved that the object for which Spain has waged the 
■war can not be attained. The fire of insurrection may flame or may smolder 
with varying seasons, but it has not been and it is plain that it can not bo ex- 
tinguished by present methods. The only hope of relief and repose from a 
condition which can no longer be endured is the enforced jiacification of 
Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of en- 
dangered American interests which give us the right and the duty to speak 
and to act, the war in Cuba must stop. 

in view of these facts and of these considerations, I ask the Congress to 
authorize and empower the President to take measures to secure a full and 
final termination of hostilities between the Government of Spain and the peo- 
ple of Cuba, and to secure in the island the establishment of a stable gov- 
ernment, capable of maintaining order and observing its international obli- 
gations, insuring peace and tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well 
as our own, and to u.=e the military and naval forces of the United States as 
may be necessary for these purposes. 

And in the interest of humanity and to aid in preserving the lives of the 
starving people of the island, I recommend that the distribution of food and 
supplies be continued, and that an appropriation be made out of the public 
Treasury to supplement the charity of our citizens. 

The issue is now wi th the Congress. It is a solemn respon.sibility. I have 
exhausted every effort to relieve the intolerable condition of affairs which is 
at our doors. Prepared to execute every obligation imposed upon me by the 
Constitution and the law, I await your action. 

Voicing the sentimQnts of my own heart, and firmly believing 
that I was voicing the sentiments of the President and of my own 
constituents and of the great body of the American people, on 
April 12 I introduced the following resolution, which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs: 

Joint resolution to terminate hostilities in and secure the independence of 
the Island of Cuba. 

"Whereas the condition of affairs, social, political, commercial, and mili- 
tary, in the Island of Cuba, as shown by the President's messages and accom- 
panying documents, can no longer be tolerated by the United States; and 

Whereas it is manifest from said messages and documents that no stable 
government can be maintained in Cuba under the authority of Spain; and 

Whereas the American people believe the time has come when, in the 
course of human events, the Island of Cuba should be a free and independent 
state: Therefore, 

Resolved by ihe Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That the President be requested to enter upon 
negotiations with the Spanish Government looking to the withdrawal of its 
civil and military authorities from the Island of Cuba, and to the independ- 
ence of the people of said island. 

Resolved, That in the event Spain should refuse to enter upon such nego- 
tiations, or entering upon them should fail to make such withdrawal in a rea- 
sonable time, the President is empowered and directed to at once grant bel- 
ligerent rights to the Cuban insurgents, and to use such and so much of the 
military and naval forces of the United States as may bo necessary to secure 
such withdi-awal. 

My purpose, Mr, Chairman, in presenting these resolutions was 
to give the President assurances of Congressional support in his 
diplomatic eiforts to secure the Avithdrawal of the Spaniards from 
Cuba and to authorize him to grant belligerent rights to the Cuban 
insurgents and use our Army and Navy to compel the Spaniards 
to withdraw; and I know of a great many, botli in and out of Con- 
gress, who believe that these resolutions are preferable to those 
adopted, and I am assured the President so thinks. 

3309 



12 

FEAUS or EUROPEAN INTEUVENTION. 

Some say, Mr. Chairman, it is too tlangerons to aid the Cubans; 
tliat the other nations of Europe may combine against ns. Mr. 
Chairman, when we hesitate to do our duty for fear of Europe we 
i\ve already lost, and should at once take back our Declaration of 
Independence, declare George Washington a rebel and a traitor 
to his King, brand Andrew Jackson and his heroic host at New 
Orleans as wicked and lawless miscreants, tear the Stars and 
Stripes from our flagstaff 6, disband our army, blow up the balance 
of our war ships, and on bended knees ask England to take us back 
again into her family and allow Canada to annex us under the 
British flag. 

Oh, no, Mr. Chairman, we will not hesitate for fear of Europe. 
Our rights, our duties, do not depend on the favor of Europe. 
While the smile of Europe would be grateful in any war we might 
imdertake, yet her frown would not deter us. Indeed, why shoii!d 
we exjiect her smile? Our people and form of government are a 
menace to every monarchy in Europe, and whenever we help 
another people to strike off the shackles of European bondage we 
are indirectly inciting the freedom-loving patriots of Europe to 
strike off their own shackles and overturn the thrones of kings 
and czars and emperors and become a free people, as we are to-day. 

But Europe will not interfere. We go forth in this war not to 
conquer a people, but to make a people free; and if the kings of 
Europe should dare to interfere, we will do as France did a hun- 
dred years ago when the Kings of Europe undertook to interfere 
with her struggle for republican freedom. We will call a million 
of men to arms; we will bid the liberty -loving people of Europe to 
rise and strike for liberty; we will fill the seas with our war ships 
and privateers; we will drive out of this hemisphere every European 
nation not our ally, and we will thus inaugurate a new era of 
human liberty and make possible a grander destiny for the chil- 
dren of men. [Applause.] 

THE WAR ONE OF DELIVERANCE. 

It is sometimes said, Mr. Chairman, "Why does the United 
States attack a weak nation like Spain? " Mr. Chairman, we are 
not attacking Spain. We are going to the rescue of an oppressed 
people. We are going to drive a horde of tyrants and murderers 
out of Cuba, and off the American continent. If England were 
to maltreat Canada as Spain has maltreated Cuba, we would as 
promptly cross the Canadian border and drive the English out of 
Canada. The day of despotic European dominion on the conti- 
nent of America has come to an end; and those European coun- 
tries who still have colonies on this side of the Atlantic must un- 
derstand that no tj-ranny or oppression of them will be tolerated. 

Mr. Chairman, our Army and Navy do not go to Cuba in any 
war of revenge or glory or conquest. They go as the French 
came here in our war of independence —they go to deliver an op- 
pressed people, they go to blow the trumpets of jubilee to the 
Cuban patriots, they go to raise the banner of national deliver- 
ance over the fairest island in the Western Hemisphere, and on 
that banner we will write: "Food for the starving; freedom for 
the captive; medicine for the sick; hope for the broken-hearted; 
liberty to all the land." 

And there are others, Mr. Chairman — some who say that it is 

none of our business how Spain treats Cuba. What! None of our 

business if a fellow human being is being robbed or murdered or 

starved to death? Must I, like Cain, say, "Am I my brother's 

3303 



13 

keeper?" Like the priest and Levite in the parable, must we ' ' pas3 
by on the other side " and leave the Cubans to die? Must we for- 
get how France and Lafayette came to our rescue when we were 
struggling for independence? Must wo forget how England, 
France, and Russia went to the rescue of Greece when she, like 
the Cubans of to-day, was waging a doubtful battle for freedom 
with the Turks? Must we forget how the great powers of Europe 
have recently intervened by force to save the Island of Crete from 
just such a tyranny as now curses Ciiba? 

There, Mr. Cliairman, on your left hand is that magnificent 
portrait of Lafayette. Why have we put it there, unless it be to 
teach us a lesson of gratitude and patriotism? Out of that can- 
vas he looks at us; out of the pages of our history he speaks to us; 
and what does he say? He bids us do for Cuba what he did for us. 

Mr. Chairman, why has the great and good God builded up this 
free and mighty nation in this New World? You know what we 
all say on Fourth of July occasions. We talk of '• tearing down 
thrones and making tyrants tremble." And yet here at our very 
doors are tyrants who are doing the "tearing down," and tearing 
down liberty at that, while some of us are doing the "trembling." 
What! Is the old spirit of Americanism dead? Have the fires of 
liberty ceased to flame in oui- hearts? Has the soul of John Brown 
ceased marching on? 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was horn across the eea. 
With a glory in His hosom that transfigured you and me; 
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free. 
While God is marching on! 

Yes, Mr. Chairman, "God is marching on," and we are march- 
ing with Him; and we will march a million strong, if necessary, 
and will keep on marching until the armies and fleets of Spain 
are destroyed or driven ofi the Island of Cuba and the continent 
of America. [Applause.] 

OUR DTTTT AS A NATION. 

We are the oldest and largest of the republics of America; we 
have for over a hundred years held ourselves forth as at once the 
model free government of the world and as the champion of re- 
publicanism in the Western Hemisphere; we have encouraged the 
people of South and Central America and of Mexico to strike for 
independence; we went to the rescue of Mexico when the soldiers 
of France, during our civil war, had overthro^vn its free govern- 
ment; we have encouraged our little sister Cuba to imitate the 
example we have set her as her great sister; we have given her 
to believe that we would befriend her as we befriended Mexico 
as against France and as we befriended Venezuela as against 
England; and now this little sister is struggling for her liberties 
as we struggled for ours from 1775 to 1781. She has won many 
battles against great odds and has lost thousands of noble and 
heroic sous, as we won and lest in our battles; and now, having 
shown herself worthy of freedom, she asks that we come to her 
rescue as France came to ours in 1778; and now, Mr. Chainnan, 
shall we go to the rescue of this little sister of the sea? Shall we 
say to Spain, ' ' Hands ofl:! " Shall we say to Spain, ' ' Call off your 
dogs of war and your bloodhotmds of murder ! " Shall we say 
to Spain, "■ Get in your ships and leave this continent! " Shall we 
say to Spain, " Go! and go quick! for the memory of the Maine 
is burning like a fiery furnace in our hearts, and if our pent-up 
wrath breaks forth we will destroy you as you destroyed the 
Maine and her crew!" [Applause.] 

At the suggestion of the President, and prompted by considera- 
3309 



14 

tions of humanity and patriotism, and believing we owed it as a 
duty to mankind, on April 18 both Houses of Congress agreed on 
the following resolutions, which were duly approved by the Presi- 
dent: 

CONGRESS DIRECTS THE PRESIDENT TO INTERVENE. 

Joint resolution for the recognition of the independence of the people of 
Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority 
and government in the Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval 
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the 
United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry 
these resolutions into effect. 

"Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three 
years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral 
sense of tiie people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian 
civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States 
battle ship, with 3iJ6 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the 
harbor or Havana, and can not longer bo endured, as has been set forth by 
the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 
1S98, upon which the action of Congress was invited: Therefore, 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representutivi's of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. First. That the people of the Island of Cuba 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Gov- 
ernment of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of 
Spain at once relinquish its authority and governmeiit in the Island of Cuba 
and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, di- 
rected and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United 
States, and to call into the actual service of the United States tlic militia of 
the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolu- 
tions into effect. 

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or inten- 
tioii to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except 
for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accom- 
plished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people. 

SPAIN ORDERED TO LEAVE CUBA AND WAR DECLARED. 

In pursuance of these resolutions the President has demanded 
of Spain that she withdraw her authority and forces from the 
Island of Cuba; and, on her failure so to do, has ordered our ships 
to blockade the coast of Cuba, and called out 125,000 of the militia 
of the States; and on April 25 both Houses of Congress unani- 
mously passed a bill declaring war against Spain, which bill the 
President immediately signed. 

So now, Mr. Chairman, we are engaged in a war. and, as I have 
shown, engaged in a just war, a righteous war, a holy war, a war 
not for glory and not for greed, a war not of hate and not of re- 
venge, but a war to rescue a neighboring people from an oppres- 
sion the like of which has never before existed on the continents of 
America since Cortez massacred the Aztecs and Pizarro butchered 
the Peruvians. Congress and the President have highly resolved 
that there shall be no European despotism in this New World 
which we have consecrated to liberty, and that when any body of 
fellow- Americans appeal to us to deliver them from European 
tyrants, we will not hesitate to go to their rescue, cost what it 
may. And we call heaven and earth to ^vitness that we draw 
our swords not as against Spain in Europe, but against Spain in 
America; not as against Spaniards, but against tyrants and mur- 
derers; not as against men, but against fiends who have outraged 
alike every law of heaven and every honorable impulse of hu- 
manity. 

But. Mr. Chairman, while we must not hesitate because of the 
cost of this war, we must, nevertheless, prepare for the cost, and 
preparing for the cost, our Committee on Ways and Means have 
introduced this bill; and while if I had been intrusted with the 
drawing of it I would have made it somewhat different, neverthe- 

S5tK) 



15 

less this can be said of the hill: It follows loncj-establishcd princi- 
ples of taxation lor war purposes, and it will raise the recjuisite 
amount of money. 

PAYING THE EXl'EXSES OP WAR. 

The committee expects to raise about $90,000,000 of additional 
taxation without taxini^ anybod.y"s house or anj'body"s farm or 
anybody's business, and submits the following estimate, showing 
the new taxes and the amounts from each source: 

One dollar per barrel additional tax on fermented liquors, esti- 
mated to yield an increased revenue of -. $^53, 000,000 

Six cents per pound additional tax on tobacco and on tobacco in 
stock 15,000,000 

A special tax of $4.80 per annum on deaJers in tobacco and cigars, 
etc - ,5,000,000 

An increase of $1 per thousand on cigai's and cigarettes 5,000,000 

A stamp tax on documents, instruments, checks.- proprietary 
medicines, etc., substantially the same as it existed in 1800, with 
certain additions - 30,000,000 

A stamp tax on wines, mineral waters, and beverages sold in bot- 
tles, unestimated. 

An increase in the tonnage tax on vessels in the foreign trade 2, 000, 000 

These are all taxes on objects which were assessed during or subsequent 
to the civil war with one exception, aud therefore open up no new and un- 
tried system of taxation. They are all internal-revenue war taxes, that can 
be collected by the existing internal-revenue ofiicials, slightly increased, with 
a small additional expense and with the minimum disturbance of trade. 

In times of war we can not afford to be weighing probabilities 
or deliberating on theories; and the various patent schemes to 
raise money without taxing anybody except a few rich men and a 
few great corporations may do well enough to divert the attention of 
debating societies and expand the lungs and speeches of dema- 
gogues, but they can not be considered by men clothed with the 
tremendous responsibilities of raising hundreds of millions of ex- 
tra dollars to enable our President to carry on successfully a war 
we have ordered him to wage. [Applause,] 

We have declared war, Mr. Chairman. A declaration is mere 
talk. But war is not made by words. War is waged with men 
and ships, and guns, and ammunition; and all of these mean 
money, big money, cash money, money to-day, money right now 
and right here, money by millions and by hundreds of millions. 

NO TIME FOR QUIBBLING OR CRITICISING. 

I hope those gentlemen who were so loud in denouncing the 
President as vacillating because he did not make war on Spain 
more than two months ago, I hope those gentlemen who have 
been shouting "On to Havana!" ever since the jl/ca'ne was de- 
stroyed and who have been charging the President with forget- 
ting those murdered heroes who yet lie unavenged in the mud at 
the bottom of Havana Harbor— I hope all of these warlike and 
patriotic gentlemen will not refuse to come up and vote for this 
bill because it does not provide for the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver at 16 to 1, or because it does not provide an income tax, 
or because it makes no provision for an additional issue of green- 
backs. 

I hope these gentlemen will not let our soldiers suffer for food 
or clothing or our Navy fail for want of guns and ammunition 
while they quibble over the taxes on beer, wine, and chewing gum 
and deprecate a tax on cigarettes, bank checks, and patent medi- 
cines. He who quibbles in time of peace may please by his in- 
genuity, but he who quibbles in time of war disgusts by his frivol- 
itv, and there are occasions when frivolity is akin to treason. 

Some gentlemen say that an income tax would pay half of the 
3309 



16 

expenses of this war. Mr, Chairman, has not the Supreme Court 
declared an income tax unconstitutional? Oh, they say, the court 
may have changed its mind! What! Mr. Chairman, shall we 
rely upon the results of a lawsuit to carry on a great war? Will 
Spain wait a year while the lawsuit is going through the courts? 
What folly, Mr. Chairman! To carry on war v/e want sure 
money, and we want quick money, and this is what this bill will 
give us, and will give it without oppressing any man or any 
woman. 

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I wish to say that it is no light 
matter to make war and vote away hundreds of millions of the 
people's money. I believe I fully realize the tremendous respon- 
sibility, but we are face to face with a great duty. I believe the 
God of nations vvill approve our action in this momentous matter. 
I believe our children and our children's children will approve it, 
as we to-day approve the wars our fathers waged in their day; 
and I believe the great majority of the brave and patriotic men 
and the true-hearted women of my country approve it; and so 
believing, I will give my vote and voice to this bill, and will give 
tny vote and voice to every other bill that will hold up the hands 
of our President, that will encourage our Army and Navy, that 
will redeem Cuba from her bondage, and will lift the flag of my 
country still higher and make it shine still brighter. [Applause.J 
2309 

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